


The Wake of a Revolution

by elstarwarslover



Series: The Search for Perfection [9]
Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: AKA Can Lucio become the leader his people need in the wake of a revolution?, Gen, Play and find out, Shit Hits The Fan
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-30
Updated: 2019-01-05
Packaged: 2019-09-30 18:36:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,082
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17229110
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/elstarwarslover/pseuds/elstarwarslover
Summary: A new slumlord's in town, and Lúcio needs to get rid of him ASAP.  But is it too late?  And how will he deal with the untimely arrival of his former enemy, Symmetra?





	1. Collision

Lúcio Correia dos Santos looked back down at the document on his computer, then again to his music setup.  His  _ father’s _ technology.  Once Vishkar’s technology.  Now  _ his _ technology.

Lúcio Correia dos Santos was not a particularly philosophical man.  His world revolved around action, around creation. His life was full of living, full of love, full of emotion, and power, and family.  It was, then, rare that he got moments such as these to sit and remember the past.

What he did remember about his father was warmth, love, and compassion.  The principles that would guide Lúcio for the rest of his life. That warmth extended from his father’s lab into the favelas, where he did his best work.  Lúcio often accompanied his father on these journeys, saw the poverty that racked them.

One lesson stood above all from those days, before his father’s disappearance, before Vishkar sacked the city, before Lúcio was expected to be a leader.  His father had told him clearly on that day: “you are no better than the least of these people.”

They had not lived in the mansions of the Vishkar’s true elite; those were reserved for the wealthy foreigners who came to oversee the locals’ research.  These never did any real work, of course; they were always “busy” with some other work.

But they had also not lived in the abject poverty of the favelas.  His father had made no effort to hide his discontent with their ease of living; in fact, in this part of his life, Lúcio wondered if his father would have gone to live with them and given all his money away, had he not had a child to take care of.

And so, when he’d disappeared, the favelas were the first place that Lúcio searched.  He knew the people there loved his father, that they would look for him earnestly. In the process, he’d met his closest friends.  Hell, he even had blood relatives there that he hadn’t known about until then. Thank God for their kindness.

A knock rang out on Lúcio’s door, breaking his train of thought.  It didn’t bother him particularly; the privacy that he got was an anomaly in the favelas where he now lived, people typically lived with all of their extended family together.  Still, it was a strange hour to be knocking on his door, most people were out at market right now.

Lúcio stood up and opened his door.  Behind it, Isabella, looking decidedly unamused.

“We need to talk, Lúcio Correia dos Santos.”

“Isabella!  Come on in, please, make yourself comfortable.”

“Not this time, too much to do.  Rosa’s out of school in half an hour, and I need her help cooking dinner tonight.  Follow me down to the market.”

“Sure, let me just shut my computer down real quick.”  He took one last look at the document that had downloaded itself onto his computer this morning, then turned around and followed his cousin out.  He didn’t bother locking his door, of course. Everything in there was open to his people, be it money, food, even tech. These were the people who consoled him in his father’s absence, the people who offered him their homes, their cooking, their knowledge, these were the people who had built him.  He owed them everything.

“What was that?” Isabella asked.

“What do you mean?”

“Don’t play dumb.  What were you reading?”

“Not sure exactly.  It downloaded itself onto my computer, I almost deleted it before I saw it was just a plain pdf.  Claims to know what happened with my father.”

“What’s it say?”  Isabella’s tone seemed innocuous, but Lúcio knew better than to keep this from her.

“Kidnapped by Vishkar, cared too much about poor people.  Plus they needed to steal his work, and that was easier without him.”

“His work?”

“Funny enough, the same stuff I use.  He never showed me what exactly he was working on, so I didn’t make the connection until now.  Weird how life works, right?”

“Huh, that is weird.”

“But it’s not why you wanted to talk to me, I’m guessing.”  Lúcio noted the smell of the ocean, the smell of home, as the pair rounded another corner.

“Obviously.  You need to deal with Gomes.  Now.”

“Gomes, Gomes, that’s the new slumlord right?  What’s up with him, think he’s gonna make a move?”  Lúcio did have some concerns about the man, but he couldn’t be worse than Calado.  Or Vishkar. Or any of the others who came before them. “The council should be keeping him in check, shouldn’t it?  Why don’t they just tell him to buzz off?”

“Because he’s gotten the people’s vote, Lúcio.  He’s stirring up their fears about foreign governments—including the Brazilian one—trying to take back the land.  He’s going to use that fear to bypass the council, and you damn well know it.”

“He can do that?”  Lúcio didn’t quite understand what Isabella was getting at here, the people wouldn’t take to another slumlord, and they certainly wouldn’t just let him get around the rule of law.  Not anymore. Right?

“He’s a thug who is absolutely willing to threaten and abuse people to get into power.  But you’ve done little more than what you did before to stop him. It legitimizes his position.  Add to that the fact that people have some very real fears right now, and well…”

“Wait, wait, legitimizing him?  Anyone who knows me knows I don’t like the guy.”

“But your money is still filling his coffers, one way or another.”

“And how exactly do you suggest I stop him?  What can I do?”

“What can you do, Lúcio?  You’re the one who broke into Vishkar’s factory, reclaimed our people’s work and led us in a revolution, but you’re asking me what to do here?”  Here, Lúcio was at a loss. Vishkar had posed a military threat, was easy to fight directly. And that the people listened to him was nothing to do with his personality and everything to do with the position he found himself in.  It was nothing like the current situation. Seeing his silence, Isabella continued. “Get active, dummy. Denounce him, once and for all. If you’re lucky, the people will still listen to you. Then get yourself a spot on the council and take some responsibility for this life you’ve made for us.”

“Isabella, you know how I feel about—”

“I don’t care Lúcio,” Isabella said.  “You have got to take some initiative here or everything you’ve done will be for nothing.”  They heard the crowd clamoring at the market well before they could see it.

Seeming to read his thoughts, Isabella continued.  “You’d best hope that’s not him, or it may just be too late.”  As luck would have it though, the crowd opened up to show him a short woman wearing far too many wool coats to be a native.

“Lúcio!  The name’s Dr. Mei-Ling Zhou, I’m a part of the UN’s environmental task force, there’s an abandoned Overwatch Ecopoint here, and I was wondering if you could help me access it?  Your people have been so kind to me, but I really am on a short time limit, a lot to do, people to see, data to collect—you can call me Mei by the way! That’s what everyone in Antarctica did.”

“Dr. Mei?  I’m sorry, I’m a little—”  Isabella shot Lúcio a look that threatened to kill.  “I am a little busy right now, but let me see if I can find you a place to stay so that we can figure out about this… Ecopoint you said?”

“Yes, it was studying the effects of acidity on the local rainforest ecosystems, we got a flood of data on climate change from Antarctica, but it’s still not enough yet, people still need convincing, unfortunately, but I have the data to do it, I just need the big picture, you understand I’m sure!”

“I—sure!”  Luúcio wasn’t really sure what to say to that, but he wouldn’t be given any time to finish his thought.  The sound of an outraged crowd hit his ears as favelans poured into the market from the other side. “Woah, woah!  What is wrong with you all?” he shouted into the crowd. The reply that hit his ears was incomprehensible at best, several hundred voices all out of time obscuring what any one of them might have said.

He didn’t have to wait too long to realize what the matter was.  The crowd in front of him split just long enough to throw an unconscious woman at his feet.  A woman he recognized, if only barely—her Vishkar attire looked far worse for the wear, and it was nothing like the combat suit he had seen her wear previously.  But there was no mistaking who it was. It was the one who had led the charge against him, the architect who had threatened his home. At his feet lay the unconscious body of Symmetra.


	2. Ecopoint: Rio de Janeiro

_ Three _ .

Lúcio’s father had taught him early in his life to take three seconds to think before responding to a crisis.  It wasn’t so long that any harm would come of it, but it was certainly long enough to come up with a plan of action.  And maybe, hopefully, to make it something worth pursuing.

_ Two. _

“Is now a bad time?”  Mei-Ling asked. “I can always come back later, I mean I’d kinda like to get into the Ecopoint by tonight, that’s where I planned on eating after all, and sleeping, and well, you know how that kind of thing goes.  It’s not like I can’t go find a hotel in the city proper though if you need me to come back! I can just figure out something to eat and, well everyone here has been nice to me so far and…”

_ One. _

The crowd that had dragged Symmetra here was getting restless, waiting for an answer.  Lúcio reckoned they had had a lot of time to figure out exactly what they would like done to her, and the answers they seemed to be coming up with were less than generous.  The council was supposed to have set up a functioning court by now, but they were still busy with restoring normalcy and establishing funding, so it was no surprise that they hadn’t gotten around to it yet.

_ Go _ .

“All right Isabella, I’m going to need your help.”  Lúcio took a step forward, and the crowd in front of him stepped away in response.  He squatted down and grabbed ahold of Symmetra, lifting her up into a fireman’s carry before continuing.  “When you pick up Rosa today, go on to councilwoman Pereira’s office and ask her to start drafting up some legislation.  I’d like it to say something to the effect of ‘any income earned that is more than one hundred times the country’s minimum income is to be levied as a tax and invested into public programming.’  I’m not sure on the details, but make it something that will limit Gomes’s ability to throw his weight around in money for the time being.”

“Please, you think the council will go for that?”  Isabella replied. She wasn’t wholly off the mark either; it was a radical idea, and the members of the council were generally from a higher income than the favelans Lúcio lived with.  Still, if anyone could get it done, Pereira could. Not to mention that she owed him a favor from way back when.

“It’s worth a shot,” Lúcio said before turning back to Dr. Mei.  “Dr. Mei you said? Would you mind following me for a minute?”

“Oh, sure!”  She took a step in his direction and continued, “Where are we going?  I think the Ecopoint’s the other way.”

“Is it?  I wasn’t sure, I don’t remember seeing it.  Still, the people here are going to be very upset if Symmetra here stays out very long.  I’m gonna drop her off by my place and then I’ll see what can be done about the Ecopoint.”

“Oh yay!  Yeah, like I said, we were studying—well, not the ‘me’ part of we, but some other researchers under Overwatch were studying the way that climate change was affecting acidity of the local water table and in turn biodiversity in vulnerable ecosystems.  I don’t know that it’s something anyone would have noticed really, not unless they were paying attention to a hundred different species at once that is, but the lab in Antarctica kept compiling data long after we went into cryostasis, so I can only imagine how much data the lab here would have gotten!”

Dr. Mei kept on going about different research methods, and which ones had been automated under Overwatch until they reached Lúcio’s front door.  Before he went in, he made a note to ask her about the “Athena” person she kept mentioning.

“Would you mind grabbing the door, Dr. Mei?  My hands are a little full.”

“Oh, sure, absolutely!”  She pushed the door inwards, then stepped back outside and clasped her hands in front of her.

“Thank you, I’ll be right out.”  Lúcio walked in and placed Symmetra down as gently as he could onto his cot.  When he walked out, he noticed that Dr. Mei was rocking back and forth on the balls of her feet.  “Ready?”

“Yeah!”  She almost seemed to jump at the sound of his voice, as if she’d forgotten he was there.  That or she was just really that excited to find the Ecopoint. Regardless of what it was, she practically made him run to keep up with her.  He thought his height should have made it a little easier, but Dr. Mei seemed determined to walk almost inhumanly fast. Well, at least he was getting his exercise today.  “The sky is really beautiful here, don’t you think?”

“Oh, well, I mean yeah; I’ve never really thought about it to be honest.”

“You can just call me Mei by the way, there’s no need to bring up my doctorate every time you wanna talk to me.”

“Are you sure?  It seems like you would have worked pretty hard on it, I don’t want to be disrespectful.”

“Oh sure!  I mean if you were mean to me or something I would prefer that level of formality, but if we’re going to be working together you might as well get comfortable.  Besides, I haven’t been working in the field in what, ten years now? Who knows what I could have forgotten in that time.”

“Oh yeah, why was that?”  In truth, this was only the second time he had really even heard of Mei to his memory, but he wanted to try to keep the conversation flowing.

“My team was put into cryostasis as an emergency effort during a storm, and Overwatch never responded to our emergency signal.  When I woke up I had to walk for almost a month just to get to the nearest spot of civilization. They set me up from there though.”

“Oh my God, I didn’t realize, I’m so sorry.”

“Why?  It’s not like it’s your fault.  Besides, I’ve come to terms with what happened.  Now I’d just like to try to make the world a better place with everything that’s left!”  With that, she returned to her brisk pace, although Lúcio couldn’t help but notice that the spring had left her step.

After about thirty minutes of winding pathways, most of which Lúcio hadn’t realized existed, the pair arrived at what looked like an abandoned school building, fallen into deep disrepair.  Where the exterior walls hadn’t been overtaken by vines, there were gaping holes. At least one tree had fallen over onto the roof, inviting a whole host of creatures to make the building their home.  Whatever the facility had once been, it certainly wasn’t now.

“Well, maybe the computer’s still in tact,” Lúcio suggested, but he couldn’t hide the doubt in his voice if he tried.

“Worth a shot!  Will you help me get in there?”  Lúcio ran to the door to pull the vines out of Mei’s way, but even still it was a tight fit.  Once inside, Mei moved around as though this were a second home, despite all the wildlife trying to overrun it.

“Hey, Mei?  How did you know how to get here?”

“Oh, I had Athena print me out some maps before I came.  I had more than enough time to study them.” Lúcio heard the sound of a generator trying to start up but being hopelessly choked out before giving up.

“And you can just place yourself that easily?”

“I did have to navigate on much less for a month.  A city is easy by comparison.” Mei walked over to what looked like it could have been a computer with some TLC and bent down beside it.

“Okay, just wondering.”

“You know, it’s lucky I packed batteries for this very reason!  Otherwise we’d never get these computers up and running.” Lúcio watched as Mei took something out of her pack and plug the computer into it.  Then, clear as day, the monitor started up. She continued, “It’ll take a couple minutes before I can actually do anything with it, but in the meantime, well.  I maaaayyyy have been exaggerating about my, um, ability to find a place to stay here? I was kind of banking on the fact that the Ecopoint would be serviceable, but well.”  She gestured around the room as if to illustrate her point.

“Oh!  Yeah, no, you can stay with me for the time being.”

“Thank you, Lúcio, that means a lot.”  Mei looked back towards the computer and jumped when she saw it booted up.  “Oh! Here we go!”

It only took her a minute to download what Lúcio assumed was the relevant information, but it was enough time for him to think about his next move.  Gomes would probably be distracted trying to fight the council for the time being, but Lúcio wasn’t a fool. He needed to come up with something that would make Gomes show his true colors.  Not to mention that the favelans would not be happy about Symmetra staying within city limits. He almost wished the Ecopoint could have been fixed, but that was out of the question, so he’d have to come up with something else.  But, for now, it felt good just to be doing something again, even if that something was just escorting a fugitive scientist to an abandoned research station.


End file.
